


If You Were Here, I'd Never Have a Fear

by Huntress8611



Series: Who Was Wrong and Who Was Right, It Didn't Matter in the Thick of the Fight [6]
Category: The Umbrella Academy, The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: 173rd, 173rd Airborne Brigade, Doctors & Physicians, Fear, Fear of doctors, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Medical Inaccuracies, Medical Procedures, Phobia, Vietnam War, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 07:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18426066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Huntress8611/pseuds/Huntress8611
Summary: “C’mon, Charlie, can’t you just fix it here?” Will asked.“Will, you look like a fucking dartboard. I can’t fix that,” Charlie sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was trying his best to be patient with Will, knowing how much he despised doctors, but this was ridiculous. He really did look like a dartboard.“C’mon, Will, you know you have to,” Oliver said softly.Will shook his head and Charlie was done.“Damnit Will, you're going and that's final.”





	If You Were Here, I'd Never Have a Fear

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back to our regularly scheduled programming of shitty whump and hurt/comfort fics.
> 
> The title of this work is from the song Give 'Em Hell, Kid by My Chemical Romance.

“C’mon, Charlie, can’t you just fix it here?” Will asked.

“Will, you look like a fucking dartboard. I can’t fix that,” Charlie sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was trying his best to be patient with Will, knowing how much he despised doctors, but this was ridiculous. He really did look like a dartboard.

“C’mon, Will, you know you have to,” Oliver said softly.

Will shook his head and Charlie was done.

“Damnit Will, you're going and that's final,” he said, ending the argument.

He had Will throw one arm over his shoulder and one over Oliver's as they made their way to the medics. They laid him down on a cot and Charlie sat next to him, taking his hand. Oliver went and grabbed one of the medics, explaining that Will got hit by shrapnel.

The medic grabbed the things that he needed and set them on the table next to the cot that Will was lying on. Charlie watched as he laid everything out and he noticed a distinct lack of-

“Painkillers?” Charlie asked quietly.

The medic shook his head. “The shipment is late and we used everything we had.”

“Shit.”

“He’s going to try and move. Can you keep him still or do I need to go get the other guys?”

“I’ve got it,” Charlie responded, before calling Oliver over.

Oliver had been listening in and already knew what was going on. He stood behind Charlie, ready to help if needed. He knew that Will would rather he hold him down than a random stranger if it came to it.

The medic began to clean the shrapnel wounds with rubbing alcohol, tuning out the jerking movements and distressed noises that his patient was making.

Oliver stepped forward and pressed down on Will’s shoulders from behind him, trying to make it seem more comforting than restraining. Charlie rested his free hand on the younger man’s forehead and tightened his grip on his hand.

When the medic began the slow process of removing the small pieces of shrapnel Charlie saw Will tense up and shove his free hand into his mouth, biting down on it.

“Hey, don’t do that, Will,” Charlie scolded, taking the arm away from his face and pressing it back to the bed.

Oliver silently shifted his grip from Will’s right shoulder down to just above his elbow, keeping him from accidentally injuring himself. Now that he didn't have anything to bite down on, Charlie could see the boy struggling to stay silent, his eyes tightly screwed shut and his jaw tensed so much that it looked like it might break. More importantly, though, he wasn’t breathing.

“Will, breathe, kid. You’re gonna pass out,” Charlie said, his normally gruff tone having an calming lilt to it. “We’ve gotcha.”

Charlie scooted closer to his head and used his hand to turn the boy’s head towards him, wiping away a few stray tears from his cheeks. Oliver squeezed his shoulder comfortingly and Charlie leaned over next to Will’s ear, making sure that he wouldn’t be heard by the medic or any of the other soldiers in the tent.

“Will, can you look at me?”

His eyes opened and he looked like he was about to start crying.

“You need to untense your muscles a little. It’ll make it hurt less, I promise,” Charlie murmured, brushing a hand through the kid’s hair.

Will managed to relax his muscles just the slightest bit before he shook his head. “Can’t,” he said in a distressed tone.

“That's okay, it's okay if you can't, kid. That's fine, you’re okay. Can you try and breathe with me?” Charlie asked softly, exaggerating his breaths.

Will nodded and after a few minutes he managed to match his breath speed to the older man’s, though his breathing was much more shallow.

“Good job, you’re doing great kid.”

“Charlie, I can’t-” he cut himself off with a shout.

He flinched hard and tried to move away as the medic begin to extract the pieces that were buried deeper in his skin. Oliver moved quickly, moving next to Charlie and bracing his forearms on Will’s waist and just below his shoulders, keeping him pinned while still allowing the medic to access his torso.

“Ollie, please don’t,” Will pleaded, trying to pull away.

“God, I’m sorry, kid. So sorry,” Oliver sighed sadly.

“Will, eyes on me,” Charlie ordered, and Will’s eyes snapped to his. “I know that you’re scared and know that it hurts, but you’ve gotta just let it happen. It’ll be over soon.”

By this point, Will had begun silently crying, and Charlie had to fight his instinct to grab the kid and run.

“Almost done, promise. The shrapnel’s all gone now, just gotta clean and bandage now, kid. Almost done.”

When the medic approached with the alcohol and cloth, Oliver leaned onto Will, making sure to use a good portion of his strength to hold the kid down.

“Oliver? What?” he broke off, having noticed the significantly greater pressure,  which was beginning to hurt. “Ollie, that hurts. What’s happening?”

He tried to turn his head to see what was coming, scared to find out what was about to happen that made Oliver put almost all of his strength into holding him still, but Charlie wouldn't let him.

“No, no Will, keep your eyes over here. Ignore them. It’s okay that you’re scared, but I need you to trust me.”

“Charlie, what- I need- I can't- please. What- What's happening? I need- I need to know, Charlie. Please,” he said frantically, stumbling over his words.

“Hey. Hey, hey, hey, calm down. It's okay. He's just gotta clean the wounds and then bandage them. That's it, then you're done.”

“I- it's gonna- I don't want- it'll hurt,” he managed, half-heartedly trying to escape from Oliver's hold.

“I know, but it's the last thing. That's it, then we just have to wrap you up and you're done. You can do this, Will. Just a few more minutes.”

Charlie's eyes flicked up to the medic every few seconds and he knew when he was about to start. He didn't give any indication of this to Will, though, not wanting him to tense up. When the medic started to clean out the wounds with the cloth and rubbing alcohol, barely choked back a scream. If Oliver hadn't been putting all of his body weight on him, he would have jackknifed off of the cot.

“Hey, Will, c’mon, look at me. Will. Will!” Charlie said, his volume increasing with every repetition of Will’s name.

When Will didn’t respond he let go of his hand and brought his hands up to cup Will’s face. He tried to rub the tears off of his cheeks even though they were falling faster than he could keep up with.

“Hey, kiddo, I really need you to open your eyes. Can you do that for me please?”

Will’s eyes fluttered open for a second before closing again, but that was all that he needed to see the panic and pain in the kid’s eyes. Shit.

“Good job, you did good. Can you try again, see if you can keep looking at me this time?”

This time he managed to keep his eyes open, locking onto Charlie as an anchor point. He moved his hand and Oliver went to pin it down, but all that he did was grab onto Charlie’s shirt.

Charlie jumped slightly at the feelling of a hand on his shoulder. He looked behind him and he saw Oliver. Charlie hadn’t noticed that the medic had finished, too distracted trying to calm Will down.

“Gotta sit up now,” Oliver said softly, sliding an arm behind Will’s shoulders and helping him.

Charlie dropped his hands from the younger man’s face and took his hand once again, staying just far back enough that the medic didn’t have any trouble wrapping the bandages around his torso. Once he was done, Will began to try and stand up. Knowing that they wouldn’t be able to stop him, Charlie helped Will stand up and lean against him, Oliver standing a few feet away, ready to catch him if necessary.

“Where we going, Will?” Charlie asked as he helped Will out of the tent.

“Barracks. Sleep,” will slurred, exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“M’kay.”

Oliver made sure to get a few steps in front of him so that he could clear a path. Once they got back, Charlie tried to ease Will onto his cot, but he just kinda flopped down on it before wincing and biting his tongue.

“Dumbass. Be careful. We just fixed you up, don’t wanna have to do it again,” Charlie said.

“Thank you,” Will said in a small voice.

“Not a problem, kid,” Charlie replied, Oliver voicing his agreement.

“Still though, I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime, Will.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can send me ideas on my Tumblr or put them in the comments. I may or may not write them, but I'd love to see them either way!
> 
> galewritesfanfiction.tumblr.com


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